Van Der Graaf Generator-H To He Who Am The Only One (1970)

With "H To He Who Am The Only One", Van Der Graaf Generator consigured the maturity of his strange style, a strong and in many cases rough sound, based on the organ and the sax, with complicated lyrics in references to physics and some cosmic lyrics, but reduced in this album to exquisite compositions of overwhelming expressiveness and fluently handling the different and increasingly ambitious facets of the compositions of its leader and extraordinary vocalist Peter Hammill.
An album that contains superb songs like the dramatic "Killer" or the space rock "Pioneers Over C" without forgetting the disturbing "The Emperor In His War-Room".
Van Der Graaf Generator were great throughout their career, with all their senses in the music and with a good dose of divine inspiration they were able to put out albums as great as this gem of progressive rock.

Van Der Graaf Generator-World Record (1976)

Van der Graaf Generator has no parameters or predecessors, his music is completely opposite to that established in progressive rock, and this is not the typical rock band. It is not even remotely similar to any of its from the same times. They lacked the usual bass and guitar, consisted of a very jazzy and technical drummer (Evans), a keyboard duet (Hammill with Banton), and a saxophonist-breeder, David Jackson. The band wove an amalgam of dense sounds with incredible and dark layers of melodies, traced one after another with endless canons, which lasted more than 10 minutes. Moments of total peace are mixed, well represented in his music, with total chaos and pseudo schizophrenic and lysergic distortion.
In their first stage they recorded formidable albums like "The Least We Can Do Is Wave To Each Other" (1970), "H to He, Who Am the Only One" (1970) or "Pawn Hearts" (1971), all of them considered masterpieces of progressive rock.
During the group's second active stage (1974-1978), more interesting works were recorded. Such is the case of “World Record” (76), album in which Peter Hammill expands his instrumental horizons giving more space this time if his electric guitar
The experimentation is successful and allows the group not to repeat themselves emulating the two previous works "Godbluff" and "Still Life" and this gives the album a unique personality
A result that can be seen in this work that at times is gloomy, dense, exciting and melodic.
Proof of this is its extensive theme “Meurglys III (The Songwriters Guild)”, a very dense suite, totally progressive, but curiously enough, from minute 13:13 onwards, reggae rhythms (although it does not appear to be), forming an already legendary and fundamental theme in the group's career and in the history of progressive rock in general.

Van Der Graaf Generator-Pawn Hearts (1971)

With their fourth album, Van Der Graaf Generator proved they were at the pinnacle of avant-garde rock with a release that rivals the masterpieces of great bands like Yes, ELP, Genesis, or Pink Floyd. Like its predecessor, "H To He, Who Am The Only One", this new work represents a bold, challenging, and extremely demanding style, yet is also incredibly rewarding. All the classic VDGG elements are present on this magnificent album, from Peter Hammill's abrasive and dark lyrics to Hugh Banton's keyboards, Guy Evans' precise drumming, and David Jackson's unique and original touch on saxophone and flute. To further enrich the musical tapestry, Robert Fripp returns as guest guitarist, adding his distinctive style to the final spectrum of this musical canvas. On "Pawn Hearts", the band displays maturity and tremendous ease of execution, all without approaching this work with the complex and intelligent sounds of their previous album. 

An album that, moreover, showcases a wealth of lyrical content, as profound as the music itself, along with small doses of humor, extravagance, and sonic aggression. From the opening, apocalyptic track "Lemmings", Hammill makes his message clear: questioning authority and choosing our own path without trusting in governments. The reflective and poetic "Man-Erg" again confronts us with Hammill's portrayal of humanity and its universal capacity for good or evil. The second side features the suite "A Plague of Lighthouse", one of the most astonishing pieces in the history of progressive rock, a hallucinatory journey that blends melancholic, powerful, dark, cathartic, and uplifting passages, all swept by the sounds of mellotrons and Robert Fripp's distinctive, razor-sharp guitar.

Van Der Graaf Generator-Godbluff (1975)

After a four-and-a-half-year hiatus, Van Der Graaf Generator reunited and dedicated themselves to composing and recording a series of tracks that would appear on the albums "Godbluff" in 1975 and "Still Life" the following year. This time they moved away from the sonic violence, passionate lyrical imagery, and delirious melodic lines of their previous album, "Pawn Hearts" (1971), and turned towards shorter, more intricate pieces, though retaining the same sonic aggression. Here, too, Peter Hammill's guitar playing becomes progressively more prominent, while Banton, Jackson, and Evans continue to display their jazz leanings in their fluid and precise handling of their instruments. "Godbluff" consists of four tracks, beginning with the crescendoing "The Undercover Man", a solid cut that superbly balances keyboard and horn sounds, making it a great starting point. The following track, "Scorched Earth", displays a more symphonic orientation, with a grand interlude and an incredible final section, which for many is the quintessential VDGG sound. The jazzy tour de force "Arrow" showcases the band's typical aggression, which contrasts with the album's closer, "The Sleepwalkers", a track that displays sustained joy over a martial rhythmic pattern with hints of Latin jazz and rhythm and blues. A year later, the band released "Still Life", which followed a similar stylistic pattern; not surprisingly, it was largely composed at the same time as the material on this anthological and essential album, "Godbluff".

Van Der Graaf Generator-Present (2005)

After Van Der Graaf Generator disbanded in the late seventies, all the members (Peter Hammill, Hugo Banton, David Jackson, and Guy Evans) remained in regular contact, working together on various projects and performing throughout the 1990s. Finally, in mid-2004, they decided to revive the band and began composing new material. A year later, they released their first album in twenty-five years, "Present", a work that, in some ways, harks back to the days of the legendary "Pawn Hearts", with a more modern and updated sound. Released as a double album, the record opens with ambient music adorned with cymbals and flute, before welcoming Peter Hammill's powerful vocals. The track sounds like it could have been lifted from any of their seventies albums, showcasing the band's classic, high-intensity sound. Despite not reaching the intensity of the previous "Nutter Alert", it follows a similar musical pattern, while the fascinating "Boleas Panic", an amazing instrumental written by David Jackson, the melodic and dark "On The Beach" or the avant-garde "Abandon Ship", are the prelude to a second disc where the challenging improvisations lead us through cathartic and inaccessible paths, with pieces that are truly raw and difficult to digest on a first listen.

Van Der Graaf Generator-The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome (1977)

The departure of Hugo Banton's timeless organ and the diminished role of David Jackson's saxophone led to a profound shift in Van Der Graaf Generator's musical structures. This compelled their leader, Peter Hammill, to rework his original musical approach for the band's eighth album, "The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome", released in 1977. This album would ultimately serve as VDGG's epilogue until their return 28 years later with "Present". Abandoning the dark, lengthy compositions and the vast, chaotic musical intricacies of their earlier work, the band here strived for shorter pieces, though nonetheless of immense complexity. Guy Evans' drums, along with Nic Potter's bass, are the driving force of an album that, together with Jackson's fleeting appearance and Graham Smith's feverish violin, strikes us as the least conventional and epic work in their entire discography released in the 1970s. Tracks like the uncertain "Lizard Play" or the resilient "The Habit of the Broken Heart" offer unchallenging developments, while the Floydian "The Siren Song" or the hypnotic "The Last Frame" stand out as the album's highlights. However, we still find glimpses of their past with the frenetic "Cat's Eye/Yellow Fever (Running)", the psychedelic "Chemical World", and the intense "The Sphinx in the Face" and its closing track, "The Sphinix Returns".

Van Der Graaf Generator-Still Life (1976)

"Still Life" was Van Der Graaf Generator's second album following their magnificent return with "Godbluff" a year earlier, and was the sixth album chronologically from the band led by singer, songwriter, and guitarist Peter Hammill. VDGG released two of their best albums after a four-year hiatus, brilliantly showcasing their signature sound once again. However, the organ is much more prominent here than on later albums, and the saxophone becomes a less fundamental instrument than it was on previous releases. Despite this, the music doesn't suffer in the slightest; in fact, it's a subtle and very rewarding change that remains true to their earlier work, allowing them to explore new musical ideas. Peter Hammill's songwriting reached its creative peak during this second period; his lyrical work on this album is absolutely brilliant and metaphorical, as was already the case on their previous five albums. However, here the meanings of the songs are less literal (as literal as Peter Hammill can be). These songs are brilliant observations on humanity, including the quest for immortality, which It eventually strips life of all meaning. The internal struggle that arises when considering destroying friendship for an intimate relationship, and ultimately, where the human race is headed in this era. All of this is magnificently written and supported by glorious music. The opening track, "Pilgrims", ​​with its slow, solemn crescendo and haunting atmosphere; the expansive "La Rossa", where they showcase their affinity for Italian lyricism; and the superb "My Room", featuring excellent work from bassist Hugh Banton, David Jackson's ambient saxophone, and drummer Guy Evans' jazzy texture, along with the chilling and desperate "My Room (Waiting for Wonderland)" and the radiant epic "Childlike Faith in Childhood's End", form a perfect repertoire that could easily be proclaimed one of the best in progressive rock of all time.

Van Der Graaf Generator-The Least We Can Do Is Wave To Each Other (1970)

The start of the successful career of the British band Van Der Graaf Generator didn't begin with the psychedelic, still rather rudimentary, and to some extent baroque "The Aerosol Grey Machine" (1969), but thanks to their second release, "The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other", the band gained significant prominence in the world of rock with an album that paved the way for them in the early 70s progressive scene. This second release contrasts dark landscapes like the demanding "Darkness (11/11)" with David Jackson's incisive saxophones almost on the verge of suffocation, or the bewitching "White Hammer" and its disconcerting ending, with sublime moments of luminous fragility like the beautiful and unmissable "Refugees", where an emotional Peter Hammill, without falling into sentimentality, caresses the verses instead of singing them. But it's not until the album's final track that VDGG's full-fledged progressive influences emerge, with the expansive and intricate "Alter the Flood". Here, Hugh Banton's keyboards and David Jackson's saxophone intertwine in an intense, otherworldly layering, while Hammill subtly accompanies them with acoustic guitar and his distinctive vocal style. "The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other" is not only a spectacular album but also the cornerstone for the band's future sound. From this point on, VDGG would prioritize the development of expansive works infused with jazz elements, frenetic avant-garde improvisations, and sublime melodies, all set to sophisticated and intelligent lyrics the product of the brilliant mind of the unique and irreplaceable Peter Hammill.